Fighting for Love: Marvel’s ‘Mr. and Mrs. X #1’

These are difficult times in the history of comic book superhero romance and for a history that includes marrying clones, spousal abuse, and deals with Mephisto, that’s saying something. The summer of 2018 will go down in these comics as the summer of failed weddings. Marvel spent months hyping up the marriage of Kitty Pryde and Colossus in X-men Gold #30. DC also got into the spirit by promising to finally tie the knot with Batman and Catwoman in Batman #50. In both cases, though, the ceremonies don’t go as planned and not because Magneto or the Joker crashed the party.

There is, however, one sliver of hope. Through the broken hearts and wasted wedding cake, one notable romance did manage to make its relationship official, tax benefits and all. Rogue and Gambit, a love story that will never be mistaken for a classic fairy tale, is now among the few superhero romances to make it through the wedding.

Their journey to this point is somewhat sudden in how quickly it unfolds. Rogue and Gambit’s romantic history is full of drama, complete with moments where they part ways, hook up with others, and generally avoid each other. Then, comics writer Kelly Thompson gets them back on track with her Rogue and Gambit series. Almost overnight, in the context of comic book time, their relationship is serious and now it’s venturing into territory that few outside Reed and Sue Richards have ever gone.

As the one who brought them together, it’s fitting that Thompson continues the story of Rogue and Gambit’s unique love story in Mr. and Mrs. X #1. Having come so far so fast, it’s easy to forget how much emotional baggage these characters two still have. Thompson doesn’t avoid that baggage. If anything, she confronts it head-on before the happy couple get to the sexier parts of married life. By doing so, it doesn’t just make the wedding seem like some reckless impulse upon which every Las Vegas wedding chapel is built. It seems like a genuine evolution of a convoluted, but genuine superhero romance.

The most important thing Mr. and Mrs. X #1 does is expand on the disappointing outcome of X-men Gold #30. This is critical because without that added context, Rogue and Gambit’s wedding comes off as something they just do on a whim and don’t really think about. While good impulse control has never been a defining trait for Rogue or Gambit, a little extra effort goes a long way towards giving weight to their wedding.

That Thompson dedicates so much of the story to setting up the ceremony that already plays out in another issue shows that this marriage is serious. This isn’t something that’s going to get undone or overridden by time travelers or Mephisto, at least not yet. The fruits of that effort show in some of the sincere moments that Rogue has with Magik and Mystique, who makes a surprise appearance and doesn’t attempt to shoot or seduce anyone for a change. It provides further proof that the Marvel universe is willing to give this marriage a chance.

Rogue and Gambit’s ceremony is allowed to happen without something blowing up. They’re also allowed to go on their honeymoon without someone getting abducted. (But that doesn’t mean there aren’t problems. More on that in a moment.) They’re even allowed to get frisky in bed, making for some sexy scenes that give Oscar Bazaldua a chance to craft some R-rated content. There’s nothing subtle about it, but it’s not too risqué. It makes for a solid balance of sincerity and sex appeal — a rare combination in any comic book romance that doesn’t involve Catwoman.

Indeed, the majority of the story in Mr. and Mrs. X #1 is lacking in typical X-men conflict. From the beginning, Thompson and Bazaldua make clear that the purpose of the issue is to establish how serious the Rogue/Gambit marriage is. This isn’t a gimmick. It’s the next step for these two characters and the quirky romance that they’ve had since the mid-’90s. Eventually, a more standard X-men style conflict does enter the picture, but by that point, we’re happy with the marriage.

Their honeymoon, however, suffers an interruption involving the Shi’ar. This requires Rogue and Gambit to squeeze in a space battle romantic sexy times. Naturally, the don’t want to be bothered, but their willingness to accept the mission reveals something else that’s important for any robust superhero marriage: they’re still committed to being superheroes.

That’s probably the most important take-away from Mr. and Mrs. X #1. The heroism doesn’t have to end once a couple ties the knot. Their status among heroes isn’t diminished. The potential for new and intriguing conflicts isn’t undercut, either. Contrary to many bad sitcoms, a comics superhero marriage doesn’t have to be an endpoint. It can just as easily be a catalyst for something new.

Mr. and Mrs. X #1 only offers a hint about what that something can be. With so much of the content dedicated to solidifying Rogue and Gambit’s status as married superheroes, there’s not much room for forward momentun in this issue. That’s not a flaw, though. That’s just a byproduct of page limit constraints. Even though the conflict with the Shi’ar isn’t fleshed out, it does plenty to build intrigue for the rest of the series. The arrival of another unexpected but relevant character in Rogue’s life at the end only adds to it.

Mr. and Mrs. X #1 isn’t just a comic about Rogue and Gambit getting married. There’s a ceremony and it’s plenty romantic, but that’s only a small part of a much larger story that has been unfolding under Thompson since her Rogue and Gambit series. She dares to take a long-running romance that has never quite attained the iconic status of a Superman/Lois Lane and makes it more than just a colorful a sub-plot.

The idea of putting a romance at the forefront of a plot is not new. Doing it in a way that doesn’t feel like a gimmick or forced melodrama is something that superhero comics, and even superhero movies to some extent, have been struggling with for years. Mr. and Mrs. X #1 may not start a trend, but it proves that the marriage motif can work for some comics superheroes.